Eala, Gauff advance to US Open third round on September 3; Osaka defeats Siniakova in three sets

Alex Eala and Coco Gauff advanced to the third round of the US Open with straight-set victories on Thursday, while Naomi Osaka recovered from a second-set lapse to beat Katerina Siniakova 6-2, 5-7, 6-1. Eala, the No. 17 seed, defeated Oleksandra Oliynykova 6-1, 6-4, securing her first appearance in the third round at Flushing Meadows. The victory served as revenge for a three-set loss to Oliynykova at the Strasbourg Open in May. Eala won her first nine points in the opening moments, racing to a 4-0 lead in the opening set just as she had done against Mary Stoiana in the first round. She won 10 of 12 points behind her first serve and finished with a 19-6 advantage in winners. Eala will next face Iva Jovic, who defeated Fran Jones 6-4, 6-4. Eala won the US Open junior title four years ago. Gauff, a two-time Grand Slam champion, defeated Paula Badosa 6-4, 7-6 (5) on Thursday under the lights on Arthur Ashe in just under two hours. Badosa played for a third consecutive day after rain suspended her first-round match on Tuesday and forced it to be completed on Wednesday. Gauff won her first major title at Flushing Meadows three years ago in 2023. Osaka, the No. 13 seed and a two-time US Open champion and four-time Grand Slam champion, defeated Siniakova after winning the first set in 30 minutes. Osaka opened a 4-2 lead in the second set before her level of play deteriorated substantially. She struck 20 unforced errors in the second set after only four in the first. In the third set, Osaka broke for a 2-0 lead and finished a 19-shot rally with a volley for a winner. In her post-match comments, Osaka said, "The match was definitely really tough and I don't know, I just felt like I had to fight. I definitely had a couple opportunities in the second set and I think I was a little bit too hard on myself. So I took the bathroom break, regrouped a little, came back and just tried to have no regrets." Other winners included Madison Keys, who erased five match points against Anna Bondar to win 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (10-5). Keys was the 2017 US Open runner-up. The 2022 US Open champion Iga Swiatek and the 2025 US Open runner-up Amanda Anisimova both won their second-round matches. The tournament has been marked by a crowd-conduct controversy. Around 100 content creators were credentialed for the 2026 US Open, per Awful Announcing. On Tuesday, Osaka's first-round match against Anastasia Zakharova was interrupted when the chair umpire had to address a particularly rowdy suite. Osaka said in her post-match press conference, "Today, the umpire, she told everyone to be quiet more than I've ever heard an umpire tell a crowd to be quiet." She added, "In my first match, I wasn't really paying attention. I tell people [that] I normally just focus on the match and the court, but there was a moment where there was people, like, shouting and stuff, and you could hear it quite clearly. And I think it bothered my opponent, too." Osaka stated she was not bothered by content creators' camera lights but said she did not like "the noise." She emphasized, "If you come to a sporting event, you have to respect the sport. I feel like it's common courtesy to read up on the sport. Especially the etiquette. It could be a good thing for people to make the sport of tennis popular to their specific audience. But I think it has to be managed a lot better, especially in the situation like in my first-round match." She concluded, "Overall, there's huge positives, and I'm not the one to, like, what do you say? You want people to continue to grow the sport. I just think it has to be in a way that everyone knows the rules and the etiquette." Gauff expressed a more measured tone on the influencer presence. She said, "I think it's great to have a different demographic to the sport. I have no problem with influencers. I've met some of them and follow some of them online. Luckily, the ones I do follow online do follow the etiquette and know tennis pretty well." She added, "Any venue you come to, you have to follow the etiquette towards it. And I definitely think it may be on some of the brands, too, maybe to have a sign plastered or something in the suite so they know, because, you know, sometimes, it's their first tennis match. They don't know. They've probably been to basketball games before." Gauff noted she is "one of the more lenient players" regarding noise and stated, "But the flash, definitely. No flash in the points. Try not to talk too loud. Ashe is a very loud court, so I'm used to it, but definitely not like mouthing TikToks and stuff in the middle of a point." She concluded, "If you're being invited to a red carpet, you wouldn't show up in jeans. I think it's just follow the etiquette of the sport. That's all."